


The Lion of Ferelden's Pride

by ShadowArtemis4456



Series: The Raven and The Lion [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Cullen and OC still love each other, F/M, Inquisitor was an Asshole, OC left the Inquisition because of the Inquisitor, Post-Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser DLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 08:33:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17443496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowArtemis4456/pseuds/ShadowArtemis4456
Summary: Four years. That's how long Cullen has known his love to be gone for. Oh, she had been spotted a few times, but the last time she had been spotted was truly the very last time or at least that's what they thought. Being the last person needed to vacate Skyhold, Cullen decides to visit the last place Raven had said to have been spotted. What he isn't expecting though is to see the very woman, who has claimed his heart and soul, once more. Only this time, she has a surprise waiting for him





	The Lion of Ferelden's Pride

Someone sighed as he gathered the last of his things and walked towards the stables where his horse awaited. Looking around once more, the man closed his eyes briefly before leaping up into the saddle and nodded to the one remaining scout who followed him out as they rode together in silence, the man pulled his mount to a stop and the scout addressed him one last time. "Commander..."

"I am no longer a Commander," he corrected the former scout who sighed. 

"Cullen..." The woman shook her head. "Here is the map marked with...her...last known location. No one has spotted her there since, but a couple of days ago I was informed that a rider with a snowy colored hooded cloak was seen riding on what appeared to be her ebony colored stallion. No one has seen the face of the mysterious rider but it was assumed to be a woman." 

"What time of day was the rider spotted there?" the man, Cullen, Inquired as he looked at the map carefully. 

"Around Dusk and doesn't leave until near midnight." 

"Her favorite time to be awake..." Cullen commented sadly before nodding. After bidding each other goodbye, Cullen headed towards the area that had been marked on the map and soon came to the area where he had first met the love of his life. The lake outside of what used to be a town named Haven. Looking skyward, he knew that it was too early for the mysterious rider to appear and so decided to hunker down in a hidden spot and wait for the rider to appear and sure enough, as the hours of dusk came around, he spotted the white rider upon a black stallion appear but still, he waited. Once she had pulled the stallion to a stop, he swiftly hopped back up into the saddle of his horse and rode calmly towards the figure who sat watching the setting sun. Knowing she could hear the crunch of the snow under his geldings hooves, Cullen said nothing allowing her time to speak. 

"If you are a specter of the man I love, leave me," She said with a hoarse voice. A voice that sounded as if it had not been used for several years and as if it's owner had done nothing but cry for the past four years. "For I have nothing more to give for my heart and soul belonged to him and I know I have lost him to the addiction he had tried so hard to fight but gave up that fight upon the Inquisitor's orders." Her voice was growing stronger steadily but the sound of shedding tears could not be hidden.

"I am no specter, my love," Cullen spoke softly but she did not look towards him. 

"How can I be sure of that? For the many dusks and well into the midnight hours for the past four years, I have come to this place. Always allowing myself to be seen by those who I knew would report me to you. Yet never once did you come." A gentle breeze picked up as Cullen pulled his horse to a stop. Frowning as he saw that she refused to look at him, Cullen wondered what he could say or do to get her to realize that it was actually him and that he was alive and healthy. Then a thought struck him as he remembered something she had written some time ago. A poem of sorts that she had written when she had been in one of her moods; a poem that he had kept for four long years and had read every single night as he cried himself to sleep knowing that she was very likely gone from him forever and now, closing his eyes so he could mentally see the tear-stained parchment with its haunting words that had been born of love, not tears, and thus he began to recite the words he remembered by heart.

 _"Shadows of the lonely heart depart, for We are not the ones you wish to seek._  
_Fly away upon thy wings of darkness and ne'er return_  
_For these hearts have been claimed by Love's light_  
_A lion, brave and true, has come to claim what belongs to him..."_

A small gasp escaped the woman wrapped in white as her horse looked towards Cullen who watched his rider carefully now, yet Cullen continued as her tears started anew.

 _"He is no longer chained by you but instead is guarded by my heart_  
_From your whispered lies and false promises_  
_I have not tamed this mighty creature..."_

Then her voice, filled with the sound of her surprise and tears, joined his as she finally remembered the poem she had written for him those four years ago.

 _"For he has chosen to willingly come and has allowed me_  
_To break the chains that were his deepest fears and regrets_  
_Begone Demons and Nightmares for you have no home here anymore_  
_For this Lion, whose roar was once weak, has grown strong again_  
_The chains bind him no more, though he has yet to see it_  
_Open your amber eyes, Golden Lion_  
_See that you are bound no more by Shadows_  
_Rise, Rise and see that you are whole once more_  
_Let loose that mighty Roar and send those shadows fleeing_  
_Hunt the Demons and Nightmares, Show them you will not be broken..."_

Cullen allowed his voice to trail away as she continued.

 _"Hunt and stalk, prowl and protect_  
_Let all who hear your roar know_  
_That you are bound by chains and Darkness no more."_

The woman turned slowly and as her eyes came into his view, Cullen knew that this woman was her. The love of his life and the woman he wanted to be with for the rest of his days. "Cullen?" She asked as he nodded, amber-gold eyes meeting dark sapphire blue. "But...the Lyrium... it should have..."

"I know, but it did not," he told her as he nudged his horse forward to be level with her. Removing a glove, he reached out with his left hand and placed it on her cold cheek. "I am no specter, and I am not dead. The day you left was the day I quit taking it again. I did not want to lose you because of it." He told her as he noted a flash of panic in her eyes. 

"But Cullen you could have-!"

"I know, Raven, but I didn't and now I am here with you as I should have been years ago," he told her in reassurance. "And I would like to stay that way. With you, if you will have me back."

"Cullen," now it was her turn to reassure him. "I didn't leave because of you. I left because the Inquisitor was a jackass, almost literally, and I didn't need that kind of stress. You don't need me to tell you that I will have you back. I never truly left you," She told him as he smiled now. When he leaned in to kiss her she stopped him. "You might want to wait for that."

"Why?" He asked confused. 

"There is someone you need to meet. Someone who's been pestering me since she could start talking about you." Cullen looked at her blankly and she motioned with her head, "Follow me, my Golden Lion." She told him as she nudged her horse into a walk with Cullen following suit. Still lost as of to why she had not allowed him to kiss her they soon came upon a small two bedroom cabin and dismounted. Tying up the horses, Cullen followed Raven as she smiled as she stopped with a hand on the door handle. "Keep in mind, Cullen, the person I am about to have you meet only knows you from what I've told her. So don't be shocked if she doesn't recognize you." 

"I still don't..."

"You will in a moment," Raven told him softly as they entered the house. Pressing a finger to her lips, Cullen watched as she walked towards one of the two bedrooms and called out softly to whoever was in the second bedroom. "Selina, baby girl?"

"Mommy?" A tired-sounding voice answered as Cullen felt his heart stop. Raven was a mother now and had been for the past who could say how long, and now part of him felt guilty as he was sure Raven had someone who was likely the father of that child. 

"Hey, sweety." he could imagine Raven gently brushing a hand along the girl's face, "Can you do mommy a favor?"

"uhuh."

"Mommy has some very important for you to meet. But first I need to ask you something." 

"What mommy?"

"Do you remember the stories I told you of a brave man that mommy fell in love with but left behind because another man was putting too much stress on mommy?"

"The knight with sun hair?" Cullen smiled at that and could tell that Raven was smiling as well. 

"Yes baby girl, that one. Well, that knight with the sun-colored hair is here and I have something very important to tell both of you but I need you to meet him first."

"Okay, mommy." The girl's voice sounded closer and Cullen could tell that it was likely that Raven had picked the girl up. When he saw Raven emerge from the room he saw that his guess of her picking the girl up was right.  

"Selina, Mommy needs you to lift your head and look towards the door." Cullen watched as the girl did as told and felt his heart stop as her amber-gold eyes met his. "Do you know who this man is, Selina?"

"The knight?" the little girl, who had her mother's blue-black hair (which had the ever infamous Rutherford curls), turned to look at Raven as the woman smiled. 

"He's more than that sweetheart. His name is Cullen Rutherford."

"Like my name?" Now Selina was starting to really wake up. 

"Yes little one," Raven turned her attention back to Cullen as Selina did the same, "Cullen, Selina, is your Daddy."

Selina looked from Cullen, who was now frozen in place with unfiltered surprise and shock, to Raven who set her down. With a gentle nudge form Raven, Selina stepped over towards Cullen cautiously, displaying yet another Rutherford trait that was purely Cullen. Watching as the girl approached him, Cullen felt his shock wear off as she timidly asked him if he really was her father and knew there was **_no_** denying the family connection there as she looked just as much like him as she did Raven. Kneeling down so he could meet her eyes he smiled warmly then, "I am. Just as much as your mommy is your mother." The girl studied him for a moment before lunging and wrapping her arms around his neck causing Raven to wonder what his reaction would be. but when he returned the hug, Raven knew that any fears she had had were unfounded and wondered what Cullen was thinking but after they pulled away from each other she could see the unshed tears of joy in Cullen's eyes and just knew that the happy family she had thought impossible had just come true. "I'm glad to finally meet you, Selina," Cullen said as he pulled the little girl's head in for a kiss on her forehead. "Now it's your bedtime if I am right and you stay up any later, I'm sure mommy will have my hide." 

"Will you still be here when I wake up, Daddy?" Raven swore the man almost melted at that. 

"Of course. Anything for you baby girl," With another hug and another forehead kiss, he stood as both he and Raven watched Selina run off back to her room to curl up in her bed. 

"How did your mother manage you and your siblings?" Raven asked with a sigh as he looked towards her with a smirk and a chuckle. 

"Very patiently."

"Hmn, she must have been a saint then," Raven smiled as Selina called for Cullen to go tuck her in. "Great, you show up and suddenly I'm chopped liver..." Raven shook her head. Kissing him once she pulled away with a smile. "Go tuck in your daughter, I'll get the horses to the stable." 

"I'll be out to help after a bit." 

Raven smirked at that, "Somehow I doubt that." She watched as Cullen walked towards Selina's room and heard him speaking with the girl and shook her head again. "Definitely a daddy's girl...not that I have much room to talk," Raven walked out to the stables and no sooner had she finished attending to both horses and was preparing to leave then Cullen walked in and spotted her. "Finally asleep?"

"Yes," he smiled as he pulled Raven close for a kiss. "You know... I think we should all move to South Reach. To be closer to my siblings and so that Selina can have playmates."

"Oh, I had already planned on it."

"Oh?"

"Apparently, your sister is better than a bloodhound of my world and those are some amazing dogs with their tracking skills. She's been bugging me since before Selina was born to move to South Reach. But I kept telling her I needed to wait and see what happened with you first."

"Well, now you know."

"Now I know and if it's one thing I am sure of its one thing that I've been hoping for, for a while."

"What?" 

"The Lion of Ferelden has come home to his pride." Raven smiled as Cullen saw what she did and smirked. 

"And this Lion isn't going anywhere that his lioness and cub or cubs don't," He told her as they kissed before turning to exit the stables to head into the house. 

**Author's Note:**

> Its been years since I last wrote a poem...like being a freshman in HIGHSCHOOL long (I'm twenty-something so a while)... so I apologize if it's not the BEST poem around.
> 
> If you all like like this one-shot enough I *might* be able to be convinced to make a story between Cullen and Raven to tell more of their story. but I may also write it offline and then transfer it over onto here so I don't feel rushed to get new chapters of it out if I do.


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